Troubleshooting Agile

learning & development

In this podcast Dr John McGurk, CIPD Adviser on Learning, and Talent Development, Peter Butler, Director of Learning at BT, Nicky Taylor, Learning and Development at Ginsters and Alan Fletcher, Business Development Manager for KMI, discuss the latest trends in learning and development.

Podcast 42: Pushing the boundaries of learning and development

Is learning and development mostly about science or is it more of a strategic business discipline? Three experts with differing perspectives discuss:  Dr Itiel Dror, Principal Consultant, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bill Parsons, VP for HR at ARM Holdings UK, and Vice President L & D at the CIPD and Martyn Sloman , L&TD academic, consultant and practitioner 

Podcast 66: Learning and development: Science or strategic business disciline

Recent research shows that just 7% of L&D professionals evaluate the impact of learning initiatives on the wider business but in these uncertain and evolving times it’s essential that L&D becomes all about alignment; with both business aims and with evolving ways of learning.

But what does alignment actually look like? In this podcast we speak to three experts to gain their insight. Laura Overton, founder of Towards Maturity, discusses what is holding alignment up and what L&D should really be measuring to assess value, while Julian Stodd, Founder and Captain at SeaSalt Learning describes the new world of learning, of social and community, and why L&D need to act as agile facilitators not controllers of learning. Andrew Jacobs, Talent Management and Organisational Development Manager at London Borough of Lewisham, agrees with the importance of embracing new ways of learning but stresses the need to challenge the use of certain methods and technology to ensure it’s what is needed for the business. Andrew also discusses his experience of stripping back his L&D offering to truly align with what people want and what they’re already using.

Do you feel that more needs to be done to align L&D with business objectives in your organisation? How are you embracing evolving learning methods? Join in the discussion on Twitter @CIPD using the hashtag #cipdpodcasts. 


Podcast 103: Aligning L&D With Business Objectives and emerging practices

In this episode we hear from Andy Lancaster, Head of L&D Content, CIPD and Nicola Josephs, Senior Executive Advisor, CEB on the challenges and opportunities facing L&D professionals now, and in the future. We also chat with Derek Bruce, Head of International Development, ABN AMRO and Alexandra Bode-Tunji, Programme Lead - Skills and Capabilities, TFL about how their organisations are preparing their employees for the future.

Podcast 117: Future L&D

In his best-selling book, The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge outlines the concept of the ‘learning organisation’. These organisations would be agile, innovative and highly competitive. They would emphasise continual learning and work from a shared vision for all employees. Senge was certainly ahead of his time and 27 years after publication, organisations are still seeking (and often struggling) to embody these ideas. 

In this episode we discuss new research from Towards Maturity into the New Learning Organisation, and we chat to learning professionals from Virgin Media, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British Heart Foundation to find what becoming a learning organisation has meant for them and what steps they’ve taken to put learning at the heart of their business.

Podcast 126: Learning to learn - a new take on Senge's learning organisation

In this week's podcast Jeffrey tells us a story about the dangers of blaming human error in the workplace, and we discuss root cause analysis, the blameless postmortem approach and how these are essential components in building productive systems and a great agile team.

Normal Accidents – http://bit.ly/2CtawMg

http://troubleshootingagile.com/

The Blameless Postmortem Approach

In episode 2 of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey look at what to do when you've adopted good agile practices but are not seeing good business outcomes; how the most beautiful kanban board on earth doesn't necessarily mean results; and why the 12 agile principles work as a form of feedback and a great guide.

Shownotes:

- Jeffrey's 2008 blog post – https://blog.jeffreyfredrick.com/2008/11/08/searching-for-an-agile-core/

- The 12 agile principles – http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

- Chris Matts's blog – https://theitriskmanager.wordpress.com/2015/04/19/communities-of-need-community-of-solutions/

Why not let us know what you think on Twitter @TShootingAgile https://twitter.com/TShootingAgile

The Importance of the Agile Principles

In this third episode of Troubleshooting Agile, Squirrel and Jeffrey take a look at the first of the 12 Agile Principles: "Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.” As Jeffrey point out, this principle contains so much that it "could have been an agile manifesto in itself.” 

Squirrel and Jeffrey both tell stories about previous consulting experiences to highlight where clients have failed to fully deliver on this vital principle in the past, and how businesses can troubleshoot various common problems that arise.


Show Notes:

- The 12 Agile principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html 

- “The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement”, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0566086654/ref=sr_1_1 

- CITCON website: http://citconf.com/


We’d love to hear any thoughts you have about this Agile Principle, or about the podcast in general. 

You can email us, here:
agile@troubleshootingagile.com

Or send us a tweet, here:
https://twitter.com/TShootingAgile


Also, why not Like, Share and Subscribe. We’d really appreciate it.

The First Agile Principle: Delivering Fully

In this episode Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss the Second Agile Principle: ‘Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.’

We hear how the principle is closely related to Lean Startup and Minimal Viable Product, and how, at its core, it is about understanding and learning from one’s environment as quickly and as often as possible.

This reminds Squirrel of the OODA loop, the decision cycle developed by military strategist and US Air Force Colonel John Boyd, and he tells us a story about fighter jet dogfights in the Korean War.

Jeffrey also tells us a story, about a startup he started way way back in the first dotcom bubble in 1999, which brings to mind another military lesson that ‘no plan survives contact with the enemy.’.

Finally, we hear examples of common errors witnessed over the years, such as refusals to fully embrace the Second Agile Principle in favour of misguided efficiency and an often irrational attachment a plan.

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SHOWNOTES:

-The 12 Agile Principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

-The OODA Loop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop

-Lean Startup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_startup

***

We’d love to hear any thoughts, ideas or feedback you have regarding the episode (or regarding anything else, for that matter).

You can email us, here:
agile@troubleshootingagile.com

Or send us a tweet, here:
twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Or you can find our website, here:
http://troubleshootingagile.com/

Also, here is a link to our iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troubleshooting-agile/id1327456890?mt=2
If you felt like liking, Sharing and/or Subscribing, we’d really appreciate it.

Embracing Change & Maximising Validated Learning

In episode 5 of Troubleshooting Agile we discuss the Third Agile Principle: 'Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.'

Evolution in our thinking, since the Agile Manifesto was written back in 2001, makes what was once considered 'shorter timescales' seem laughable now, but, when retrospecting, 'working software frequently' remains one of the core agile disciplines. But, as Squirrel and Jeffrey highlight through various client stories, it is far from easy to implement continuously.

We hear where, why and how so many companies fail to fully employ this principle, and Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss some interesting techniques to overcome common problems - from slicing up elephant carpaccio to  employing continuous integration with nothing more than a rubber chicken.

*We apologise for a few sound difficulties at the start of the episode with Jeffrey's mic. Stick with it and they soon pass.*

***

Squirrel and Jeffrey have told us which common obstacles they regularly witness that prevent organisations from delivering working software frequently. Now we want to hear from you guys on the matter. You can leave your answers in the comments below, you can email us at agile@troubleshootingagile.com, or you can find a poll on our Twitter feed @TShootingAgile.

What are the obstacle for your organisation to delivering working software frequently?

1. The tech team aren't offering to do this, or don't know how.
2. Customers (external or internal or both) don't know it's possible or how to use it if offered.
3. Both 1. and 2.
4. Neither - we already deliver frequently!

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SHOWNOTES:

-Agile Manifesto Principles - http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

-Continuous Delivery, by Jez Humble and David Farley - https://martinfowler.com/books/continuousDelivery.html 

-Continuous Delivery - https://continuousdelivery.com 

-CITCON - https://citconf.com 

-James Shore's blog: "Continuous Integration on a Dollar a Day - http://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/Continuous-Integration-on-a-Dollar-a-Day.html

-Alistair Cockburn's blog: "Elephant Carpaccio" - http://alistair.cockburn.us/Elephant+carpaccio

***

We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas or feedback you have regarding the episode (or regarding anything else for that matter).

You can email us, here:
agile@troubleshootingagile.com

Or send us a tweet, here:
twitter.com/TShootingAgile

Or you can find our website, here:
troubleshootingagile.com/

Also, here is a link to our iTunes:
itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/troub…d1327456890?mt=2
If you feel like liking, Sharing and/or Subscribing, we'd really appreciate it.

Delivering Working Software Frequently & Continuously

Troubleshooting Agile is a problem-solving session for agile teams. Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel look at common problems agile teams face and provide practical, immediately useful advice for getting back on track.